Well our trip took an unexpected turn this week, when instead of continuing south to Nambour we did a u-turn and headed back up north to Cairns ! We managed to make it as far south as Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, but with overnight temperatures of just 6 degrees, there was no way we were going any further.

So last Friday I made a phone call to the lady who we organised Marks drug through, and by Monday lunchtime we had the Nambour and Wollongong doses both changed to Cairns. So we now find ourselves back up in Far North Queensland with absolutely no idea how we plan on spending the next month - cool huh !!

We left you last at our free camp in Clairview - a place we've decided we'll never visit again! The place looked lovely enough - but we ended up having 8 trains belt past us through the night.....our worst nights sleep of the trip. We were up at 6am (with a train) the following morning (Day 115) and decided to pack up and head for a quieter spot for breakfast. Mark treated us to another rippa gravel pit - and we enjoyed a lovely cook up of bacon and eggs with a coffee. We arrived at Rockhampton mid morning and called into the Emergency Services Open Day for a few hours - the kids had a ball and got to see a medivac chopper land which was pretty cool. Max visited the Trauma Unit tent and got a black eye painted on himself - we thought it would be good to trick Ty (and it worked!). We were at Mt Morgan by mid arvo and were greeted by Ty and Essie and their great news that they are pregnant !! Yay.

Day 116 saw us embark on the 400km trip Sth to Hervey Bay and over to Fraser Island. There were roadworks much of the way and it took us just over 5 hrs to get to the ferry to the Island. We hadn't given much thought to where we were going to camp once we were over there, and found ourselves in a bit of a pickle trying to get to our beach camp with only one hour to spare before high tide (should have thought a bit more about that in hindsight). Ty made it up over the dune after about four attempts and we knew that with the camper on we were really going to struggle - and struggle we did ! The Hilux put in a gallant effort but to no avail, and out came the snatch strap (see pic). After about a dozen attempts the Nissan finally dragged the Hilux and camper up over the dune with the seawater lapping at our wheels! We were never going to drown, but both Mark and Ty have a severe phobia about getting any saltwater on their precious vehicles (well the Nissan's precious anyway!). It was dark by the time we were setting up camp and cooking tea and about an hour later we were all tucked up in bed - it was nippy! Unfortunately you can't have a campfire over on Fraser, so it was agreed that bed was the place to be. At 1230am in the morning I woke to hear a noise at the trailer - I woke Mark up who sat up to peek out of the window, only to see a bloody dingo trying to get into the beer in the ice cooler! Turns out it had actually been in under our trailer (under our bed!) checking out the tucker boxes (see pic). Needless to say I had a pretty ordinary sleep after that waiting for the damn thing to return. Day 117 was Mark's Birthday and it was lovely to share it with Ty and Ess. Tess and I were up early but it was nearly 9am before the Bates' appeared - Ty was paying the kids $5 each for every morning that they didn't wake him up! We enjoyed pancakes and coffee for breakfast before eventually getting organised to go off exploring. We headed up the beach to the Maheno Shipwreck (see pic), before checking out a few of the internal 4x4 tracks. We arrived back at camp at 230pm to find a bag of SR flour strewn across camp, as well as a packet of dishcloths and some glow sticks! The damn dingo had been back and these were the only items it could manage to get out of the tucker box under the trailer. It had tried to get into the space case too, and although it had moved it whilst scratching and put a puncture hole in it, it was not able to get into it. Cheeky bloody animals - they must just wait for you to leave and then go to town. Day 118 was another snoozy start to the day after a damn cold night (got down to 5 degrees), and was followed by the best bacon and eggs of the trip (see pic). We left camp mid morning and headed to Lake McKenzie and the kids had a brief paddle and photo shoot (see pic). We thought we'd make our way over to the beach to see the Champagne Pools at the northern point of the Island, so decided to do a bit of 4x4 driving on the way. Unfortunately our 4x4 shortcut didn't come off, and instead brought us back about 20mins from camp instead. We're glad we got lost, as the tide they had that evening was the biggest they'd seen in years and we would have ended up stuck on the beach somewhere for sure.

Day 119 was a 630am start in order to make the 9am ferry. It was a lovely sunny morning but we'd all decided the overnight temps were too cold to camp again so we went in search of a unit at Hervey Bay. We found it at the Big 4 Caravan Park and it was brilliant - the kids had a tv to watch and we had clean sheets - yay (the sand gets a bit annoying)!! We went out to the RSL for tea and for $2 per child we were able to book the kids into the Kids Play Room with X boxes, Wii's, colouring in stuff etc etc. The kids were very disappointed to be dragged out of there at 8pm for the courtesy bus home. We had a lovely nights sleep with the heater pumping! Day 120 saw us return to Mt Morgan - very slowly. We thought the roadworks were bad on the way down, but on the way up it was horrific - 400kms and it took us 6 and a half hours.

We said goodbye to Ty and Ess on Saturday morning (Day 121) and started heading north again, this time stopping at Carmila Beach - a free camp 60kms south of Mackay. I had made the phone call to Liz about changing the appointment locations, and although we hadn't heard back yet, we figured we still had four days to fill in and it might as well be somewhere warmer than where we were. Carmila Beach turned out to be one of our unexpected favourite spots and we had three great nights there. We were right on the beach with beautiful sunshine and thankfully some fishing for Max (he got a Whiting off the beach). We met a lovely lady while we were there who had two little dogs that the kids fell in love with - she came up with the dogs each morning for a visit and a play and it was great. We got the call from Liz Mon lunchtime that Cairns was a goer, and made a mental note to come back and spend more time at Carmila Beach on the way home.

Day 124 was another early start as we were hoping to get as many kms under our belt as we could. We stopped at Bowen for lunch, but other than a fuel stop, it was a day full of driving. We had planned on stopping at a free camp but they were absolutely full of grey nomads so we pushed on to Ingham. We stayed in the only caravan park in town and were again blessed with trains passing by the back of our camper! We had managed 600kms for our 8 and a half hour day - once again the road works making it a very slow day.

We arrived back at Cairns on Day 125 - about two and a half weeks after we left! It may seem ridiculous to some that we just did a 3000km round trip in that time, but we did it over on the West Coast, so why not do it here too !! I've got to say that camping in temps of 27 degrees during the day and 14 overnight was well worth the drive for! The kids had a great day back at Cairns Coconut Resort (Day 126) while I caught up on four loads of washing and Mark had his appt in town. Max did well finding $1.10 in the toilet and then finding Tess' lost clogs (she lost them the morning we left) - he seemed to think that the fact they were still there was 'remarkable'! The kids enjoyed their first bath before heading out for tea - Tess climbed in the bath and said "ooh yeah, that's what I'm talking about"......ahh the simple pleasures when you're on the road! We went out for a seafood buffet tea which had been on the agenda all trip. Max managed to down 1/2 doz oysters natural, 8 prawns, 8 calamari rings plus chips, rice etc, then wash it down with chocolate mousse for sweets. Not bad for a dinner where they charge "the child's age plus $2" - so $10 for Max and $6 for Tess - what a bargain!.

We packed up this morning (Day 127) having no idea where we were heading - other than North! We have managed to find the only site left at a Caravan Park at Port Douglas and think we'll sit and prop here for at least the weekend. Mark and Max have made friends with a couple of fellas next to us and they're all heading out fishing in the morning together which will be great. The old boy has been coming up here from Eden for 20 years and Max thinks his 'local knowledge' is just what he and Mark need! A balmy 23 degrees as we type at 930pm!

We now have two weeks to fill in before Mark's next appt back in Cairns and really have no idea where we're going - we've decided the only criteria is SUNSHINE ! We think we'll head back up to The Lions Den Hotel but beyond that who knows! I was keen to head back over to Karumba, but Mark thinks the 1500kms return trip might be pushing it. We've done over 21,000 kms so far - what's another few thousand?

Until next time :)